Carnival
by insaneantics21
Summary: Rachel hates the carnival. Oneshot.


For someone that loved music and singing and sound as much as she did, Rachel Berry hated noise. She hated noise and crowds and the loud engines of the rides at the carnival that her Daddy insisted that she would love. She was five and clinging to her Daddy's leg as he walked through the carnival grounds. She didn't beg him to take her home because he told her she would have fun and since her Daddy was a giant and there was a lot of noise he probably wouldn't hear her anyway.

He bought her pink cotton candy and a purple sno-cone and won her a big stuffed bunny when he threw baseballs at milk jugs. She knew he would win because her Daddy was a superhero. He tried to get her to go on a few of the smaller rides but she only clung to her bunny and shook her head. They went around to the rest of the games and Rachel watched from afar as the rides went around and around. Rachel whimpered and clung harder to the man when a clown on stilts walked by. She hated clowns, too.

"Don't you see anything that looks like fun, sweetie?" her Daddy asked as he picked her up and settled her on his hip.

Rachel shook her head.

"The ferris wheel is fun," he tried to convince her.

"It's too high up, Daddy. I don't wanna fall down."

"You won't fall down, baby girl."

Rachel settled her head on her Daddy's shoulder and the man sighed and started walking toward the car. When he stopped before they got there, Rachel picked her head up and looked around. Her Daddy was smiling.

"What about that, Rachel?"

Rachel looked in the direction he was pointing to a giant inflatable bouncy house set up in the grass. There weren't many kids in it and it looked quiet. Rachel shrugged. Her Daddy walked over to the operator and handed him two tickets. Rachel looked up in amazement and the red, blue, and yellow castle. Her Daddy put her down and held onto her stuffed bunny.

"Go on, Rach," he said. "It'll be fun."

Rachel was unsure.

"It looks scary," a small voice whined.

Rachel looked to her left to see a blonde girl standing in front of an older blonde woman looking up at the castle the same way she was.

"Quinnie, it's just a bouncy house. We had one for your birthday, remember? You loved it!"

The little blonde girl shook her head. "That one was pink, Mommy."

"Just for a few minutes," the woman tried to coax her daughter.

"What if I get lost?"

"I'll be right here the whole time."

Rachel's eyes widened. She'd never thought of getting lost. Slowly, she started walking toward the blonde girl, her Daddy followed at her side.

"Hi," Rachel said softly. "I don't wanna go in, too."

The blonde girl nodded. "It's big and I'm little. I'll get lost."

Rachel's Daddy knelt down and smiled. "Maybe you two should go in together. You won't get lost if you're together."

Rachel took a deep breath. "My name's Rachel," she said with a soft smile.

"I'm Quinn. I guess maybe if you go then I'll go."

Rachel nodded and looked back at her Daddy. "We'll go."

Her Daddy gave a big smile and kissed the top of her head. "Go have fun!"

Rachel offered a hand to Quinn and the blonde girl took it. She jumped a little as she swore a spark went through her body. Quinn jumped a little, too. They both shrugged and Quinn followed the small brunette to the entrance of the giant inflatable castle. After they discarded their shoes Rachel crawled in first and then helped pull Quinn up. There were a few kids in there bouncing and screeching. Quinn didn't let go of Rachel's hand as they tried to make their way to an empty corner.

Quinn tripped and fell twice and pulled Rachel down with her but they finally made it to their corner and stood watching the other kids, bigger kids, bouncing. Rachel took Quinn's other hand and faced her and started to bounce a little, Quinn mimicked her. Rachel bounced a little higher and Quinn squealed and grinned and held onto Rachel's hands a little tighter. They bounced until they were out of breath and the pair collapsed in a fit of giggles. Quinn kept a tight grip on Rachel's hand.

"How do we get out?" Quinn asked after a few more minutes of giggling.

Rachel shrugged. "I don't wanna leave. I wanna stay in here with you. We could live in here."

"Okay," Quinn said softly. "We'll live here."

Rachel grinned. Maybe the carnival wasn't so bad after all.

Rachel wandered around the carnival with the eleven other glee club members. She still hated the noise and the crowds and the clowns but it was the only thing they could all agree on to do. She stayed a little separated from the group, despite it being the end of their senior year she still felt a little left out. She didn't have a significant other to take her arm, she'd given up on Finn long ago. Her feelings were currently focused on a blonde ex-Cheerio and her ex-best friend. Quinn had stopped torturing her and started smiling at her. The smiles were from afar, but they were better than the insults. And they made Rachel's heart flutter a little.

Speaking of Quinn, Rachel had been watching her while the group walked around the games. The blonde paused at the duck pond and watched the kids draw out the plastic ducks. Rachel saw her eyes looking for a little blonde girl but knowing she'd never find her. The blonde girl was in Washington D.C. with her adoptive parents.

After they'd gone through the games and those that wanted to ride the rides had run out of tickets the club members began departing one by one. Rachel ended up sort of walking with Quinn around the carnival grounds for a while longer before their path started heading to the parking lot.

..........

Rachel was focused on the blonde in front of her as they walked through the grass to the parking lot. Quinn's hair was particularly mesmerizing to Rachel that evening; the soft curls bounced with each step and she caught a waft of citrus every now and then. Rachel was so caught up in the motions of Quinn's hair that she hadn't noticed that the blonde had stopped, the small brunette slammed into Quinn's back effectively knocked Rachel out of her trance. Rachel looked where Quinn's head had turned and she saw it. A giant blue, yellow, and red inflatable castle.

"It's big and I'm little," Quinn whispered.

Rachel gasped. She was unsure that the blonde remembered that day or any of the days that had followed for a few years after.

"You thought I forgot, didn't you?"

Rachel moved to stand next to the blonde and dug around in her pocket. She pulled out four tickets. She heard Quinn's deep breath as the blonde slipped her hand into Rachel's. Both jumped when Quinn clasped Rachel's hand in her own, neither needed to say they'd felt the same spark again. They made their way up to the ticket guy, he looked at them a little funny but shrugged and said they could go in since there was no one else around. Both girls slipped off their shoes and Rachel led the way inside and they stumbled over to one of the corners.

"It doesn't look as big as it did," Rachel said, looking around.

Quinn shrugged. "We grew up."

"We grew apart," Rachel mumbled.

"I'm sorry, Rachel."

Quinn reached out and gripped onto Rachel's other hand and started bouncing a little. Rachel mimicked her moves and Quinn offered a smile before jumping a little higher. Rachel let go and spun around in mid air and watched Quinn do the same. They took turns spinning until Quinn landed just right and bounced forward, tackling Rachel to the floor. Both girls erupted in a fit of giggles and Rachel somehow found herself with her arms wrapped around Quinn's back.

"We should go," Quinn whispered. She brushed Rachel's hair out of her face.

"I don't want to go," Rachel recalled. "I want to stay in here with you. We could live in here."

Quinn leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to Rachel's lips.

"Okay," the blonde said, "we'll live here."

Rachel grinned and pulled Quinn back in and kissed her once more. The carnival was pretty awesome.

**The End.**


End file.
